The Claim: Perry Christie and the PLP claim to have created 22,000 jobs during their last term in office and promise to create 10,000 jobs within two years if elected.
The Truth: The PLP’s last term was during global economic boom. Even so, data from the Department of Statistics has disproven the outright false claim that PLP created 22,000 jobs. True to his weak leadership style, when questioned by the press about how the party determined this number, Perry Christie said “The best advice I got was that we created 22,000 jobs.” The PLP cannot prove the number of jobs or how they were created.
Despite wild claims that they will create 10,000 jobs in their first two years in office, they have not offered a single substantive specific on how that will be achieved.
Unlike the PLP, the FNM can prove its jobs record. Thanks to sound planning, 20,000 public sector jobs were saved in the middle of an economic downturn and initiatives such as the National Job Readiness program allowed 4,000 Bahamians to engage in on-the-job training and secure employment. Bahamians and Bahamian companies are improving our roads and utility services as well as building Baha Mar where $110 Million of $400 Million in Bahamian contracts have already been awarded.
The FNM’s investment and vision for the tourism industry will also continue to create employment. Statistics from Bahamas Hotel Association and The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism show that tourism arrivals, hotel occupancy and spending are up not just in Nassau but also in the Family Islands. The Bahamas is expected to welcome six million visitors in 2012. This rise in tourism arrivals will create more jobs, evidenced by Atlantis’ addition of more than 550 staff in the past year alone.
Perry Christie and the PLP can’t back up their false claims and will say anything to win votes. We still can’t believe what they say.
Same PLP. Same Empty Promises.
